How would you describe your relationship with the person to whom you report? If yours is top-down, you may be at risk for feeling powerless, disengaged, and ultimately ineffective.

We all have someone we report to. On today’s show, you will get insights into their behaviors, needs, and expectations – and gain concrete actions to positively influence the relationship as we talk with Michelle Armstrong, the Associate Dean of the Scholarly Communications and Data Management Unit for Albertsons Library at Boise State University in Idaho. We get to hear about her work on,“ManagingUp: Strategies for Cultivating Effective Supervisor Relationships.”

Full Transcript

This podcast is brought to you by the School of Library and
Information Management, from Emporia State University, where library leaders
are created with program sites in Kansas, Utah, Oregon. Colorado, and South
Dakota. And, by the Park City Library making film and podcasting possible, with
green screen, and sound recording resources.

This is Adrian Herrick Juarez. You’re listening to library
leadership podcast where we talk about libraries and leadership and speak with
guests who share their ideas, innovations, and strategic insights in the
profession.

How would you describe your relationship with the person to
whom you report, if yours is top-down? You may be at risk for feeling
powerless, disengaged, and ultimately ineffective. We all have someone we
report to. On today’s show you, will get insights into their behaviors, needs,
and expectations and gain concrete actions to positively influence the
relationship.

Today we talk with Michelle Armstrong, the Associate Dean of
the Scholarly Communications and Data Management Unit for Albertsons Library at
Boise State University in Idaho. We get to hear from her about her work on Managing Up, Strategies for Cultivating
Effective Supervisor Relationships.

Okay, I think there’s a couple of reasons that it’s really
important. The first is, it’s just kind of a difficult relationship to
navigate. There’s already a power differential between a supervisor and
employee in that relationship. So, no matter how friendly you are, no matter
how long you’ve been in that relationship when someone has authority over you
there’s going to be a difference in terms of the amount of influence and impact
that these individuals can have.

And, for the employee, it often feels like the stakes are a
lot higher because they don’t have as much power in that relationship. It can
feel risky sometimes. Then what I also find, and why this topic is so essential
for people, is that when that relationship isn’t working well we’re just
generally less happy. It makes it harder for us to enjoy our job. When we start
to have that sense of dread coming to work, it colors our entire perception about
the individual, the organization. It can have impacts on our health and
well-being.

There’s a lot of ramifications when you don’t get along with
your boss. The last reason that I think is really important, is that we don’t
talk about this topic enough. There’s a real skill deficit, not just in the
library profession, but I would say in pretty much all professions, that we
think of ourselves as disempowered when we’re in that employee role. So, the
more we can learn about this I think the more positive influence we can have on
our organization.

We definitely could talk about this more. We know that if
we’re in a top-down relationship we are at risk for some very destructive
thoughts and feelings as we go into work each day so we definitely need to get
to the bottom of this.

Absolutely. It can feel really difficult for the employee
when they’re having that conflict. When you’re feeling disempowered it almost
can have a freezing effect. Like, what can I possibly do? I’m just reacting
today to the situation with anger or frustration or, negative emotions. When I
started looking at this I was really looking for something that was empowering,
proactive, and just put a positive spin on something that’s a challenge.

Yeah. Well, here’s the truth about our bosses, there’s
nothing that’s particularly unique about them. They’re just people. What tends
to be unique, when you’re looking at this relationship is our perspective and
our perception of them. I like to point out some things that I feel like we as
employees often forget. I say this with great humility because I’m constantly
relearning the lessons that I had already thought I knew about managing up. But,
I have to keep revisiting this for myself.

When we think about our bosses, there’s a couple of things
that I tell people that we often forget, or we’re skewed, or we have an
incomplete perspective about. The first one is that bosses have bosses. In an
ideal world, it makes them perfectly empathetic and understanding of that. But,
along with, hopefully, that kind of good insight there’s also the reality that
they’re under pressure, as well. When we think of ourselves as employees who
are feeling that pressure, they’re also feeling it.

I really don’t know anyone in the library world that doesn’t
have some form of a boss, that’s just not the nature of our business. Everyone
is experiencing that kind of potential for conflict, and pressure, and
expectation.

Another really key important piece to remember about this is
that our supervisors or bosses will often have very different and often
shifting perspectives about what’s going on. They’re usually seeing the
organization a little bit more broadly or thinking about it more broadly.

If we think about the annual evaluation – when someone is
giving me my annual evaluation, from my perspective it’s all about me. When a
supervisor is giving the annual evaluation it’s not only about that person, but
it’s also about the needs of the organization, the long-term effect on how that
evaluation process leads to a good workforce. We see things differently. And
that, in and of itself, can cause conflict.

The last thing that I would say about this is that bosses
are human beings, and they are just as susceptible to those human foibles as
anyone is. If we think about times that we’re not at our best or when life
causes a distraction or a conflict, or something that just takes my energy away
from my responsibility as a manager, we’re just not performing at our best. Or,
if we just make mistakes. Nobody likes to be caught forgetting something or
giving misinformation, or just plain doing something wrong.

I’m not excusing hiding or any of that. This is not to say
that we shouldn’t have expectations of our supervisors, but it does mean that
they will not be perfect. So, we should have realistic, and appropriate, and
reasonable expectations of everyone that we work within our organization.

We’re all human beings and we all have pressures. So, it’s
really important for these relationships to be good. To help everyone involved
empower the employee. Get the needs met of the supervisor. What are the
benefits of managing up?

Yeah, I think that there are a lot of benefits. Not only for
you as the employee, but also the organization. If you start to look at the
research in this area you actually really start to see that there’s a lot of
correlation. There’s a lot of work that’s been done about this relationship
between the supervisor and employee.

What often happens is that your experience in the
organization actually changes. You’re happier overall just because you perceive
the experience of being an employee as better. Then the organization itself can
actually become stronger and more productive because everybody in the
organization is actually happier. There’s a lot of research around that
correlation between a workforce that has that sense of self-advocacy and
ability to be successful.

The last benefit I would say is the impact on the employees
themselves, that are psychological capital, or optimism, or resilience. Our
beliefs that we can succeed actually increases the better we are at being able
to develop a positive relationship with our supervisor. We don’t completely
eliminate that power differential between a supervisor and an employee. But,
you gain a certain amount of positive power and positive influence over the
relationship when you have these skills and you’re able to apply them in this
kind of way.

Yeah, there’s a couple of key ones that I try to share with
people. The first one is build trust. I think that’s really essential. You can
do that in a couple of different ways. The first one is just learn about your
supervisor’s leadership and management style.

If you think of yourself as a manager, you would be trying
to understand how to help your employees be successful. If you’re a good
manager, you are setting your folks up to get the job done the very best you
can. You have to think, how do they work the best? Do they need some silence?
Do they like teams? There’s lots of work around that.

Well, flip that over and think upwards in the organization.
Take some time to think about how your supervisor likes to get things done. Are
they just the highlights, just the headlines person? Or, do they like a lot of
deep content? Consider what is it that they need in order to be successful? Do
you have the capacity or the ability to help them with that?

The other thing that is really important along the same line
is to think about and learn about your organization. Adopt that organizational
citizenship. It’s very easy when we’re doing a job to look at our
responsibility, especially if you’re feeling down about your work, or you’re
frustrated with it. A lot of times we start to pull in and we’re like, I’m just
not even going to bother anymore to care about everybody else and what’s going
on.

I would say, that’s the wrong approach to take in most
cases. If you look more broadly and start to say, what is the unique mission of
our library? Who are we truly trying to serve, and how does my part contribute
to that?

I find that having that broader perspective gives you
purpose and motivation. Then the other thing about building trust is to think if
you’re able to make things easier. Along with that, you can really look at your
attitude, whether you’re trying to game the system. When we find ourselves
feeling disempowered some of the reactionary behavior comes from, well I’m just
going to… We don’t necessarily say that, but the reaction is somewhat
undermining, sabotaging. We’re kind of taking away from the energy that gets
built around a new project, or a new initiative, or the work that we’re trying
to do.

If we really take the time and ask ourselves, are we
treating others the very way that we want to be treated? And, we’re checking
our attitude and we’re not trying to find some loopholes that we can get away
with. That will really build trust. Your supervisor will know that you’re
someone that they can count on.

Yeah, I would say that’s a super important part of managing
up. Then, the next one that I always try to encourage is to manage yourself.
That can be something as simple as becoming self-aware, thinking about
communication style in particular. I’m very direct. I’ve gotten myself into
trouble a lot because of that quality. Sometimes it’s a great strength and I
can cut through a lot of nonsense. Other times it’s insensitive, particularly
when you’re trying to deliver a difficult message. So, being mindful of how you
communicate can make a huge difference because then you’re taking control. You
have control over that. No one else is controlling that for you. You have power
there to change how you communicate.

The other thing that you can do when you’re managing
yourself is positively influence your peers. When an organization starts to
reach that toxic phase and people are whispering on the sides, and they’re
having clique building. That’s not a good place to be. If you’re not
contributing to like, wait a second, you’re telling me about this problem that
you’re not having in direct conversation with that other person. Those kinds of
behaviors that start to happen. It’s not good.

If you can start to call people out, give it a name. You
said that this person was responsible for everything, and that’s not the truth.
You’re scapegoating them. You’re not being fair. You’re expecting perfectionism
instead of a reasonable appropriate level of performance. Giving it a name will
often be that positive force for those around you.

Then the last thing about managing yourself that I would
like to say is that a lot of times we are in management positions ourselves.
So, if it’s a student employee, a volunteer, a permanent employee – taking the
time to look at yourself is really important, because it gives you insights
into that process of being a manager. You can start to see, oh, I think my boss
is trying to accomplish this, or they were trying to give me information and I
blew it off. You will find your knowledge of being a manager, the more you
improve that, it improves your skills and it improves your work relationships.
That’s really true.

Yeah, it’s absolutely true. Then the last method that I
wanted to offer to people is self-advocacy. I feel very, very strongly that
people should care about, and develop their career plan. Do not wait for
someone else to care about your career. You should be the one who cares the
very most out of anyone. You will find good people and your supervisor will
often, So, what do you really want to do?
Do you have interests in things? What are your strengths? You can certainly
engage in those conversations but if you haven’t done the work to say, am I
truly happy here, or do I want something else? Am I satisfied with my salary?
Do I have time left in my career that I could either make a lateral, or upward
move? Have you sought out advice, not only from your supervisor but others?

If you invest in your career you do
start to feel more empowered because then you have options. Then along that
idea of self-advocacy, think strategically. Not from that gaming the system
kind of perspective that I was talking about earlier, but is there something
that hasn’t been considered. Can you envision a new way of doing your job, a new
schedule, a new process, and new service? The library world is all about
services, so is there a way to reframe whatever is a problem in your current
situation? Can you offer an alternative solution? And once again, that loops
back around to that idea of trust.

If you’re thinking proactively of how to make things better,
supervisors love that. Unless they’re just really micromanaging or have some
other kind of deficit and perspective. They really love people that are
thinking proactively and then are working collaboratively to implement those
ideas. If it makes sense at that time.

Then there’s just one last thing I want to say in terms of
methods that I think is an important caveat to add to this whole discussion. I
always want people to be smart about anything that they believe is unethical,
illegal, dangerous, or just mean. Sometimes people have good hearts and they
really do want to make these relationships work. I’ve been trying all along to
look at managing up from a positive perspective. But, there are times that
behaviors can become abusive. I don’t want anyone to engage in magical thinking
and believe, oh if I just try harder then it will all go away. That’s not true.

You need to get help in those situations. You need outside
perspectives and guidance. If something truly is illegal, or something truly is
over the line, then start to seek assistance. I just don’t want anyone being
naive about that kind of relationship. I always feel around this topic, it’s
important to have that caveat.

Good. This sounds like a practical application for managing
up, building trust, making sure you’re not working the system, you’re helping
meet needs, you’re managing yourself, and you’re working with colleagues in a
positive way to get them to also engage. And, you’re a self-advocate, looking
at your career and coming up with solutions that help everyone. Can you share
any success stories about how people have applied managing up?

Yeah, I don’t feel like I can give a specific story because
I might be divulging, but I work with some great people that are managing me
well. I can tell you, I have some staff that are absolute pros. What I will say
about this if you look around and you start to see a really good working
relationship between a supervisor or an employee and it’s not just based on
personal friendship, although that’s a reality in the workplace. But, if it’s
truly based on those good qualities that make work relationships productive,
you’re often going to see a lot of trust, a lot of collaboration, a respect for
the different responsibilities and authority that each has. And, then just the
willingness to work at it when the relationship isn’t great.

The times that I have found in my own situation, where I
felt like I was successful in managing up is when I took a step back. This
actually happened yesterday. I was in a situation where I was starting to feel
some tension and I had to mentally pause and say, wait a second, stop. It’s not
about you, it’s about the situation. Where are they coming from?

Just having that that presence of mind to get out of the
emotion in the moment was really important. Like I said, I’m constantly
re-learning that. I’m constantly failing and trying again. That’s the truth.
But, it’s a good process to go through.

It is expected for all of us which is why there are these
tools and they’re so valuable. And, when this is done well, we can all feel it.
It just clicks. Things get done. There’s positive interactions. So, I’m just
grateful that you’re sharing all of these tools with us. As you’ve pulled this
work together you’ve probably come across a lot of fantastic literature and
books. Do you have any favorites you’d like to share?

I always like anything from Harvard Business Review, and there’s actually one called Guide to Managing Up and Across. I think
their work typically is well grounded in research and practical knowledge. So,
if you’re just looking to start somewhere, I say this on a lot of different
management topics: coaching; and supervising; those kinds of things. I often
will start there and then expand out. The one thing that I would say when
you’re looking at the practical literature, the books, the business books out
there I would try to stay away from anything that goes into the toxic boss, or
bad boss, or the dysfunctional kind of stuff. There can be useful content about
that but, if you’re taking the perspective that your supervisor’s just a
horrible person then you’re not going to go very far.

You probably really need to leave the organization if that’s
where you are. As you expand beyond the basics that Harvard Business Review gives, look at things that are empowering
and you can be influential. That’s really great.

The other things that I found fascinating when I started to
look really deeply into this, there’s a lot of literature, a lot of research
around this topic. I’ll just give you a couple of keywords where you can go and
do some of your own literature reviews, but there’s something called LMX, Leader-Member Exchange.

That really talks about relationship from a scientific
analysis perspective. The people that are doing research in that area, they’re
really examining the specific components that contribute to that positive
relationship. That’s part of why I really focused on trust because that was a
big thing that was coming out in the literature. And then, if you follow that
line of research you’ll start to see some other keywords like followership,
organizational citizenship, and employee voice.

There’s a lot of interesting literature regarding employee
voice. What is a suppressing quality? When do people keep their mouths shut and
just let the organization die? Why does that happen, Because that’s awful. What
can you do to change that dynamic? I find that literature just, really
fascinating.

I would just say I have to always acknowledge that managing
up can be hard and humbling, especially when you start to examine your own
management practices. My position changed in this past year. I’ve had to really
look at my weaknesses. I had done quite a bit of self-analysis, previously.
But, when you find yourself in new situations and you really care about the
work, you can go, wow, I’m not where I need to be. I need to work harder at
this. I mean to keep trying to figure out how I can engage effectively with
people.

It’s not a bad thing to be humbled at times. It’s not a bad
thing to see your weaknesses. If anything, it means that you care deeply. But,
just know you have to work at it. You have to practice. Like you had said, you
have to be mindful of these things.

Absolutely, self-development is a lifelong process. We’re
never going to be perfect, and it’s so valuable to libraries as we help our
communities to develop, as we help each other to develop. We’re all in it
together.

That’s exactly what I have been telling myself. I can’t be
complacent. I have to keep figuring out if I’m the best employee that I
possibly can be and that the organization needs. I truly believe that the rest
of our library needs me to be as good as I can be. And, when I start to
realize, oh, I have a weakness in an area, or I’m not performing as well as I
could, or I haven’t balanced my schedule effectively. I need to have a serious
conversation with myself and try to figure it out, knowing that I’m going to
fail. I’m going to have to try again but, I have to keep working at it.

I’m really proud of everyone that we
have here and that we are known throughout our campus for our service. We’ve
really distinguished ourselves and that’s just because a lot of people have
taken time to do their job well and interact with people effectively. I think
that’s true in most libraries. I think you see people that understand we’re
serving human beings, and that is for their empowerment.

This whole topic is about how you can become empowered as an
employee, but we as librarians – we’re helping people get the information that
they need in order to do what they want to do. That’s essential to our society.
That’s critical. And, the last thing that I said about the creativity… we are
at such an interesting point in the library profession – everything is getting
flipped upside-down. We’ve had so many disruptive technologies both good and
bad. Our world has changed, the way we access information has changed, the way
we see ourselves as librarians has changed. And, so getting to be creative?
That’s wonderful.

I love that element in our libraries. I love seeing all the
new things that are coming out of the library world. I think, no matter what
type of library you’re looking at, you’re seeing some kind of interesting
innovation, new take on what it means to be a librarian, what it means to offer
library services. And, that makes this whole profession just incredibly
exciting.

It’s incredibly exciting. And, I see everyone dealing with
change and wanting to do their best to provide fabulous services for our
communities. So, thank you for these tools. And, I’m proud of everyone too,
who’s willing to engage in this work. Thank you for giving us this fantastic
information to help us do just that.

You’ve been listening to Library Leadership Podcast. I’m your host. Adrian Herrick Juarez. Our producer is Nate Vineyard. More episodes can be found at library libraryleadershippodcast.com, where you can now subscribe to have new shows delivered right into your email inbox. You can also find the show on Apple iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening. We’ll see you next time.

Why We Burned Our First Leadership Book, or How to Develop a Leadership Path that Holds Personal Meaning

Presenter: Adriane Herrick Jaurez

Co-Presenter : Becca Lael – Park City Library

Utah Library Association Conference

Thursday, May 16, 1:30-2:20pm

Mountain America Expo Center

How can we develop a leadership path that holds personal meaning? Inspired by interviews from the Library Leadership Podcast, a variety of strategic insights will show us how everyone can improve their leadership to personally shape their workplace, the community they serve, and the trajectory of the library profession. Attendees will learn how one library manager’s leadership path was transformed to include personal meaning, resulting in braver development.

Commencement Speaker for the Graduation of the Utah State Regional Master of Library Science ProgramFriday, January 5, 7:00pm Viridian Event Center I will be giving a commencement speech for the graduating class of Cohort 12.

Utah State History Conference
October 10th– 11th, 2017 Rio Grande Depot, 300 S. Rio Grande Street, Salt Lake City, UT Honoring the Past, Moving Into the Future: The Renovation of the Historic Park City Library that Developed a Dynamic 21st Century Library while Achieving National Historic Register Designation.

Nevada/Mountain Plains Library Association Joint ConferenceOctober 16th – 18th, 2017 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 50 US-50, Stateline, NV89449
Lightning-round presentation on how The Park City Library recently underwent a $9.6M library renovation that included the creation of a media lab that included a sound booth, green screen, film equipment, and other high tech amenities to foster independent media production in a ‘film-centric’ mountain town that is accessible to everyone, not just movie producers.